Here's an encounter that the city police are in no mood to encourage. Within days of a Right to Information activist subjected to third degree at a city police station, TOI finds that it wasn't a stray bad experience, with cops pulling out all stops to stay RTI-proof. In fact, police officers in some stations even say they are unaware of the RTI Act and remain most unresponsive when it comes to their responsibilities under the Act. And a telling reality: a significant number of pending cases at the Information Commission pertain to the police department.

From claiming that "there is nothing like RTI" to showing the door to quizzing on the reasons for filing an RTI query, police stations come across well-armed against anybody seeking information under the Act.

On Tuesday, TOI posing as an RTI applicant visited police stations with a simple three-question query: the number of FIRs filed at police stations in the year 2011, the number of cases solved and the number of cases pending. The Cyberabad commissionerate directed the applicant from one official to another, with the third official, an administrative officer, finally reluctantly accepting the application, saying that a "lot of information" had been sought in the query and it would take over a month to put it together.

The Punjagutta police station did not deny giving information. It simply refused to accept the RTI query since the letter was "not in an envelope". In fact, it took time for the concerned Public Information Officer (PIO), the writer (who writes complaints and FIRs) at the station, to decide whether or not to accept the application. He threw a volley of interrogative questions demanding to know the applicant's background, details of professional life and also residence proof etc. The applicant was also advised to show more interest in other police stations and spare Punjagutta. The PIO also demanded to know repeatedly why the applicant was interested in these details and what he intended to do with it. After much persuasion, the PIO insisted that he would accept the application only if it was brought in an envelope. The RTI Act does not mention any such rule.

It was a similar experience at the Begumpet police station where an inspector first tried to physically stop the applicant from entering the premises. The second hurdle was once again the station's PIO (the writer) who bombarded the applicant with questions about background only to advise him in the end to concentrate on social service and stop filing RTIs which is not beneficial to anyone. However, unlike at Punjagutta they accepted the RTI application.

RTI activists corroborate TOI's experience with their own. P Ramakrishna, an RTI activist shared how a colleague had gone to Chandanagar police station on December 4, 2011, to file an RTI query on the number of road accidents in the area. "He was held over and the inspector called me from the station. I was asked rudely about why we needed this information," says Ramakrishna, adding that he recorded that telephone conversation where the inspector was threatening him. While the RTI query was finally accepted, a reply is still awaited.

Another activist, T V Bhaskar of Guntur said that he received threatening calls four months ago following which he informed the collector and district SP and sought protection, which was denied. A government circular released in 2010 states that any RTI activist seeking protection should be provided the same.

Known RTI activist C J Karira said that the home department was the most RTI-unfriendly. He said as per the Act, every police station should have a board outside giving details of the PIO and the appellate officer which is not being followed in any police station in the city.

The Haryana education department will add a chapter on the Right to Information (RTI) Act in the curricula of schools and colleges across the state, a senior officer said here on Saturday.

Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati said this was one of the several steps being taken to make the administration transparent and making people, especially the younger generation, aware to take advantage of the RTI Act.

She said that with a view to promoting openness, transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the RTI Act had been fully implemented in Haryana.

Gulati said all departments in the state have been directed to prepare their 'Citizens' Charters' to improve performance in service delivery and to provide service which meets people's needs.

"The Citizens' Charters of 111 departments and organizations have so far been formulated and the charters of the remaining department and organizations are in the process of being framed," she said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has received flak from the Central Information Commission for its failure to provide information to an RTI applicant and claiming otherwise. The curious case came before the Central Information Commission where an MCD official, when questioned by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi during the hearing, said information sought by the applicant has been furnished. When grilled, the official Jagdish Prasad, produced a reply which said, "Since this information is time consuming the department may prepare the information, as and when report will be compiled and it will be provided to you as early as possible".

Such a reply prompted a stern warning from Gandhi. "The Commission warns the PIO not to send people for hearings who do not have the capacity of understanding what information is," he said. The case relates to one Swarn Kumari Sharma of Karol Bagh who was trying for last one year to know details of Assured Career Progression scheme of teachers in MCD schools but was not provided any response to her questions. The RTI Act mandates furnishing of information within a month of application.

"From the facts before the Commission, it is apparent that the PIO and the deemed PIO are guilty of not furnishing information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of Section 7 by not replying within 30 days, as per the requirement of the RTI Act," Gandhi said while issuing showcause notice to officials of the MCD. "Mrs Vijaylaxmi then PIO and Deemed PIO Mr Jagdish Prasad, School Inspector will present themselves before the Commission...alongwith their written submissions showing cause why penalty should not be imposed on them as mandated under Section 20 (1)," he said.

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea under the transparency law for disclosure of selection norms and appointment process in the country's internal intelligence agency, Intelligence Bureau (IB). A bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi rejected the plea by an unsuccessful IB job aspirant, dismissing his accusation that IB selection process was plagued by corruption.

"It appears that the selection process has been conducted in a transparent manner, and there is nothing to indicate any corruption in the said process," Justice Sanghi said. The high court's order came on an appeal by IB job aspirant Ravinder Kumar Kataria, challenging the Central Information Commission's June 2011 order, dismissing his plea earlier for disclosure of selection process and norms in IB. Kataria had alleged he could not be selected for the post of Junior Intelligence Officer (JIO) in IB in 2009 due to corruption.

The court accepted the Union Home Ministry's argument that Kataria is a Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate and there were 17 posts reserved for SC category. All posts have been filled and the petitioner had scored lesser marks than the candidate last recruited in SC category, while the cut-off marks for the general category were substantially higher, the ministry told the court, seeking dismissal of Kataria's plea.

Kataria had approached the CIC after the Public Information Officer (PIO) had rejected his query saying Section 24 of the RTI Act exempts the intelligence and security agencies from the Right to Information Act's purview. The CIC had rejected Kataria argument that the information sought by him did not pertain to IB's functioning and merely pertained to the recruitment process for public employment by the agency and so the said information should be given to him.

The AP High Court was pulled up by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for its failure to adhere to the RTI Act. Nine other high courts besides AP's have been given three months time to get their act right. The CIC was reacting to a complaint filed by Hyderabad-based RTI activist C J Karira and Mani Ram Sharma of Rajasthan between December 2009 and March 2010. The complainants had stated that there was no disclosure of information under section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI Act by the courts. The case came up for hearing on December 30, 2011 and the order was passed on Thursday, ordering the high courts to fall in line within three months.

As per section 4 (1) (b), every government department should disclose complete details of the organization, employees, decisions taken by it and budget, among other details. According to the Act, this information should be updated as frequently as possible and made available to public by whatever means possible, including internet.

Apart from the AP High Court, the high courts of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Allahabad, Madras, Guwahati, Punjab & Haryana and Sikkim were directed to start complying with the rule. However, since the Guwahati HC had recently updated all the details in conformity with the RTI Act, it was appreciated by the CIC and suggested that the court model could be emulated by others.

The complainant, Karira said, "For the past six years, from the time the RTI Act was introduced in 2005, the AP High Court has never abided by the section 4 (1) (b). The court has not provided the details related to it and its employees either on the internet or manually.

This section not only introduces transparency in the system but informs the public with clarity about the officials and the functioning of a department." Karira also expressed his disappointment that most of the departments in the state government were not following this particular section.

The delay in getting information and the vague information provided for applications submitted under Right to Information Act is upsetting the RTI users who say that these ‘bureaucratic rules’ would water down the spirit of the Act.

A meeting of the RTI Users Coordination Committee held here on Sunday has decided to submit a memorandum to Chief Information Commissioner Sibi Mathews on the problems faced by the RTI users. RTI users from various districts shared the difficulties they faced in

getting response to their applications. 

The main complaint was that most of the lower level State Government offices had been rejecting the applications saying that the concerned file was missing. The meeting constituted a 25-member ad hoc committee with P Sharfudheen as convener. Rajan Kalam, Raveendran Kandoth, P S Vijayan and K V Janardhanan have been elected as joint conveners. The gathering demanded the State Information Commission to impose a specific time limit for disposal of Second Appeals, which is not exist at present. 

This is resulting in the pending of appeals before Information Commissioners and causing financial loss to the applicants.

The meeting also decided to constitute district-level committees of RTI users and activists.“The RTI law demands transparency at every stage of public service, but the officials are not keeping time schedule for making decisions over the appeals,” said P Sharfudheen.

“We will point out the issues and complaints to the Chief Information Commissioner soon. The proceedings are getting unseasonably delayed and only a few applications received replies recently. We demand strengthening the RTI by ensuring a transparent procedure for State Information Commission and a system for their uniform functioning, he added.

Madhya Pradesh universities have decided to do away with the revaluation system on the ground that the procedure is rather cumbersome. However, a student, who wants his/her answer sheet revaluated, could take recourse to Right to Information (RTI) route for the purpose. 

The new rule also seeks to scrap the provision that no mark will be added to the revaluated answer sheet unless there is a 10% increase in total marks. Also, the double rounds of revaluation will be eliminated in the new system.

The coordination committee of the state’ universities headed by chancellor and governor Ram Naresh Yadav passed a resolution to this effect on Thursday at Raj Bhawan in Bhopal. Vice-chancellors of the state’s universities attended the meeting. 

Confirming this, officiating vice-chancellor of the Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya (DAVV) Raj Kamal said the committee passed the resolution that students can seek revaluation under the RTI. However, the government is yet to issue a notification on the matter. 

The resolution provides change in the rule to apply for revaluation. Now a student, who wants revaluation of his/her answer sheet, will have to apply under the RTI Act. His application will be submitted to a three-member committee to be formed at university level. 

The committee will put across the student’s demand to the university and then revaluation will be permitted. In the existing practice, students wanting revaluation are required to fill revaluation form available at their college office.